


You, Me, And Roses

by empressempoleon



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime)
Genre: Contestshipping, F/M, Gen, Rivalry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-08 00:54:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1920570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/empressempoleon/pseuds/empressempoleon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An unrelated collection of one-shots starring May, Drew, and everything in between.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Time

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a series of six one-shots for every day of ContestShipping Week! (That's over on tumblr if anyone wants to do it.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first time Drew gives a rose to May is a disaster, to say the least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Day One of ContestShipping week, with the prompt, “It’s for your Beautifly!” Aaahhh Drew you’re such a noob.

When they first meet, May thinks that Drew is one of the most insufferable brats she has ever met.  
  
Yeah, _so what_ that she messed up on her routine on the beach - she was _practicing_ , she was _supposed_ to mess up! What she does when she’s practicing has nothing to do with what she’ll do on stage, so he had no right to judge her abilities based on what he saw then.  
  
(May admits deep inside her heart that for a split second she thought he was somewhat… _cool_ , with the way he caught the frisbee without looking, but that image was ruined the second he opened his mouth.)  
  
He’s strong though, she’ll give him that. And, yes, she will also admit that his first round appeal was gorgeous, with the way Roselia’s Petal Dance swirled around the pokemon.  
  
“As a great coordinator, I came to cheer you on,” he tells her, flipping his hair in some weird way that he must think is cool, and May begs to differ because that just makes him look girly. “See, I at least want you to make it through the preliminary round.”  
  
He just gets on her nerves so much. Who does he think he is? Of course she’ll make it through the preliminary round! She doesn’t need any help from him! And after she makes it through the appeals, she’ll beat him in a battle in front of everyone. She’ll show him.  
  
That’s what she’s thinking when she steps out into the blinding lights of the Slateport City Contest; her _first_ Contest in what she knows will be her amazing career. _I won’t lose to Drew._  
  
And she might not have known it then but the reason she gets up after falling down, the reason she doesn’t die of embarrassment in front of all those people, the reason she’s able to have fun with her Beautifly - it’s all because in the back of her mind she’s thinking to herself that she can’t stop here, can’t stop before she shows Drew what she’s all about.  
  
Back in the changing room, she’s feeling pretty good about herself, even if she couldn’t get higher than a twenty five. (There’s also a large gap between her and Drew’s scores, but she isn't going to think about that. It’s not like he’s _better_ than her or something. At least, not _that_ much better.)  
  
Suddenly _he’s_ standing in front of her, and her mood just goes down the drain. Half of her wonders what he’ll say now, and the other half just wants him to go away.  
  
“A good performance, May,” he declares, almost sounding… _surprised_? In his hands is a deep red rose, and May blinks, her eyes alternating between the odd green-haired boy who’s giving it to her and the flower.  
  
_Maybe he isn’t so bad after all,_ she can’t help but think. _Maybe he really does want me to succeed!_  
  
(Max would call this her being naive later on, but she really thought he had a good side in that moment!)  
  
“That for me? Thanks Drew!” she replies, happily taking the flower and taking a deep sniff. It instantly puts her at ease.  
  
“Not for you,” he corrects, and May’s mind screeches to a halt. “It’s for your Beautifly!”  
  
He says it like he’s cracking some insanely funny punch line. May feels like cracking his pretty-boy face wide open.  
  
“It’s obvious that the _coordinator_ still has a lot of training to do,” he casually remarks, flipping his hair like a girl again.  
  
She’s so mad now that the rose is shaking in her trembling fingers. “Well I guess we all can’t be as good as you!” she bitterly retorts, wondering how she could have ever even _believed_ for a _single second_ that there was a good side to him.  
  
She watches him walk away, thinking that at least this is good motivation for her to beat him in battle in the second round.  
  
(She can’t really be mad at the flower though, since at least, it’s a very pretty rose.)  
  
So she keeps smelling it and glaring at Drew’s back. And thinking mean things like how he was an inch shorter than her even though he was a year older, or how his hair looks more girly than hers does.  
  
The first time Drew gives a rose to May is a disaster, to say the least.


	2. Natural

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> May wonders why it feels so natural for her to stand opposite Drew on the battle field.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Day Two of ContestShipping week, with the prompt Rivals! I tried my best with writing battles - it’s not my strong suit, especially since it’s a coordinator battle. I also tried Mega Evolution for the first time! Lots of firsts.

“It’s not going to be as easy this time,” he tells her as she locks her house door behind her. “I’ve spent the month training. I’ll definitely win today.”  
  
“It’s kind of funny hearing you say these things instead of me,” May laughs. She begins to walk away, Drew keeping pace next to her. Their feet hit the pavement in sync, and their conversation fills the empty mid-morning air.  
  
“You know your win was a lucky strike anyways, since I still wasn’t used to Mega Evolution then,” Drew argues. “Plus, it isn’t fair that you have two pokemon that can Mega Evolve and I only have one. You get way more chances to use it.”  
  
May sticks her tongue out. “Catch another pokemon then. I think you’d do well with an Abomasnow.”  
  
Drew purses his lips, thinking about it. Their playful banter continues as they walk into downtown, turning left and into the central park. The summer sunlight is warm on their backs and the breeze ruffles the grass around their ankles as they claim one of the practice battle fields, claiming an opposite side and pulling out their Poke Balls.  
  
“One on one, right?” May calls.   
  
“Yeah,” Drew answers, clicking his Poke Ball to enlarge it. May does the same, and for a moment, they stand staring at each other, breathing, the silence settling over them like a blanket.  
  
It silently strikes May how many times she has done this. Stood on the opposite side of Drew, on the opposite sides of these painted white lines, watched him far away from her, unable to reach him. Against him.  
  
She wonders why it’s so natural to her.  
  
“Absol, go!” he shouts, and in a flash, Absol is standing in front of her, legs poised perfectly.  
  
“Blaziken, take the stage!” May yells in response, and a wave of comfort washes over her as she sees the tall red back of her familiar companion. Blaziken looks over his shoulder to glance at May, who smiles back.  
  
She’s ready.  
  
“Going for the type advantage, huh?” Drew yells.  
  
“I don’t need that to beat you,” May retorts, and she can tell he’s smirking.  
  
“Ready?” he asks, and May nods.  
  
“Mega Evolve!” the two shout together, pressing the rainbow button on their bracelet.  
  
The two Pokemon instantly respond, a bright white light covering them as they begin to morph. May blinks, and in the next instant, her Blaziken is taller and leaner, with black tufts of fur instead of yellow and trails of fire sweeping behind him.  
  
May peers around him to see Drew’s Absol, who looks almost the same save for the bigger horn and fluffy tufts of pearly fur that resemble wings on its back.  
  
“Absol is looking good,” May remarks.  
  
“As does your Blaziken,” Drew replies without missing a beat.  
  
Their Pokemon set themselves into a ready stance, Drew tells her, “Ladies first!” May rolls her eyes, but doesn’t refuse.  
  
“Blaziken, Fire Spin!” she calls. Maybe if Blaziken goes fast enough she can get a quick hit in-  
  
“Night Slash,” Drew calmly answers, and the flaming spiral is quickly sliced by dark knives. The remaining embers float to the ground, making Absol radiate in the burning haze, and May growls because he did it again! Drew made her move his, and she hates how he can do that so effortlessly.  
  
“Water Pulse!” Drew says, and Absol rears its head back, firing off a deadly ball of swirling water only a second after Drew asked for it.  
  
“Blaze Kick!” May says, and Blaziken pushes off with its foot, the other foot burning up. It strikes the ball with force, and it explodes into steam at contact; suddenly the battlefield is covered with thick smoke and May can’t see Drew or Absol.  
  
“Sky Uppercut,” May whispers, knowing Blaziken would hear her. She watches his arm glow white, before he runs off into the thick gray clouds.  
  
“Razor Wind!” Drew shouts, and May mutters a curse as the smoke instantly clears away from the killer air blade shooting through.  
  
“Dodge it!” Blaziken steps to the side, and before Absol can react it hits it with a clean cut. May grins. “Good job!”  
  
Drew isn’t about to give in though. “Water Pulse!” Blaziken gets hit by a Water Pulse point-blank, and May cringes.   
  
Both of their Pokemon fall to the ground, struggling to get up. They look exausted, and May realizes how powerful Drew’s Absol is, to be able to use such a powerful Water Pulse only seconds after being hit by a move that it was weak to. She could also see the result of her Blaziken all over Drew’s panting Absol.  
  
Mega Evolved Pokemon hit hard and lose hard. She guesses Blaziken and Absol could probably only take one more hit.  
  
“Brave Bird!” she shouts, wondering how Drew would react to her trump card. He didn’t know that Blaziken had learned that move!  
  
Blaziken glows an ethereal blue and sprints for Absol, almost as if its being pulled by a magnetic current.   
  
She can see Drew falter for a moment, and smirks. Yes, she had caught him.  
  
“Iron Tail!” he yells, and Absol growls in response, whipping its tail at Blaziken. The result is a boom which seems to reverberate for miles. May is pushed back, her pigtails whipping around her face.  
  
“Blaziken!” she helplessly shouts, and when she looks back, she sees her Pokemon stagger before falling limp. Absol falls after seeing Blaziken fall, moaning its name.  
  
“Oh, Blaziken,” May whispers, running to her fallen Pokemon and bending to its level. “You were great out there,” she tells him, smiling. Blaziken smiles too, before she returns it to its Poke Ball.  
  
Drew returns Absol next to her, and gets up. He looks down at her, smirking, and May knows what he’s going to say before he says it.  
  
“See? I told you I’d win this time.”  
  
May rolls her eyes. “You got lucky. I’ll win next time.”  
  
“Of course,” Drew retorts, because really, this is just a matter of course; their wins and losses alternate periodically and both of them win as much as they lose to each other.  
  
He holds out his hand to her, and May stares at him, at his tousled green hair that’s longer than it was when she first met him and the mature emerald eyes that she can see her reflection in.  
  
May admits that it is natural for her to stand on the opposite side of Drew. Across the battle field, across the Contest, because they share a common dream that they’re not going to back down from. She’s _used_ to fighting with him, whether it be a Pokemon battle or the arguments that they share.  
  
But, she realizes, staring at the calloused hand that he’s holding out to her, it also feels natural for her to take that hand. To stand next to him. To talk to him. To lean her head on his shoulder. To walk beside him when they meet up to battle each other like today.   
  
She takes his hand and smiles. She feels just as natural as she does standing against him.  
  
He’s her rival; but more than that, he’s her friend.


End file.
